High heels cause more than 100,000 injuries per year

Sasha Brown-Worsham has written for dozens of publications over the course of her years as a journalist and blogger. She lives outside NYC with her three children, husband, and multiple pets. She is working on her first novel.

High heels are even more dangerous than we ever could have imagined

High heels will be the death of me. Somewhere, in a closet in my house, there sit at least four boxes of my beloved pre-children shoe collection. I had at least 150 pairs. Beautiful leather with sky-high heels I wore everywhere, every day, in every kind of weather. Now I couldn't imagine putting any of them on. And a new study about the danger of high heels only confirms that decision for me.

U.S. emergency rooms treated 123,355 high-heel-related injuries between 2002 and 2012, say researchers from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. The most common injuries were sprains and strains to the foot and ankle, which any shoe-loving gal can tell you is par for the course.

So what is the answer?

Stop wearing high heels. Really. Truly. Or you will regret it.

Walking in high heels causes discomfort in the lower leg, ankle and foot. They also slow movement of the ankle muscles and reduce step length and overall range of motion. It's very easy to topple.

Simply put: They are not safe. And they never have been. I know when I go to get shoes now, in my 30s with three children, all I ever look for is comfort. Style, too. But comfort first. I am all about spending a bit more on shoes to get both. Give me a sturdy boot with a stacked heel any day over the spiky little stilettos I once wore with gusto. It's sad in a way. But mostly it's a relief.